Shaping unruly grapevines into wreath forms!

via Instagram

I started cutting down the grapevine that I love to let take over the greenhouse for shade and rain garden benefits:

Decided to see how well it made wreath frames. Thinking it might be a nice easy class Community Roots could offer in the future or make nice gifts or be something we could sell in the future...

I cut several of last year's growth and tried to lay it out neatly...tried anyway. By the time I got it home it was pretty tangled. And of course if I had attempted to form them the same day I brought them home, things would have been a little easier. I did not get to the vines until 2 days later so I had to soak them to make them pliable enough to form. 

It was cold out so I brought a empty tote into the bathtub and filled it to soak the vines.

I soaked them for 2-3 hours, after that they were easy to shape. I located one end of several vines and started curving, sometimes using my elbow as if to wrap up a cord, tucking in the straggling ends along the length of the vines. At every bend, I took one vine and wrapped it around the whole bunch:

see the wreath-making with holly shrub clippings